The Fall
by TheAlbinoPhoenix
Summary: Joshua has to make a choice, to die and save his friends or to live and have them die instead. Reichenbach Fall. NekuJosh in part two, in part one if you squint. Rated T for apparent character death. Two-shot, part one complete.


This is what angsty music, fanfiction, and the fact that it's 1:30 in the morning can do to a person's brain. Human!verse angsty NekuJosh. Character Death, or at least until I can get the second part up. No, I'm not a crazed fangirl that can quote everything from both Sherlock and TWEWY, so the quotes won't be exact.

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The prospect of dying had never really frightened him. It was an everyday occurance; people died in their sleep, through heart attacks, through cancer, through various organs shutting down, etc.. That was nothing different, his own parents had met their deaths years ago in a car crash. Why run away from death if it would only catch up with you later?

Oh yes, he had thought about the topic before. However, it was obvious that the familiar teen in the crowd below, clutching a cell phone to his ear, had not. The wide, fear-filled blue eyes of Neku Sakuraba staring back up at him were proof enough of that.

And yet, it was for his sake that he was doing this in the first place.

It wasn't just Neku who was the reason. Somewhere, Shiki Misaki was out shopping. Daisukenojo and Raimu Biito were probably out as well, maybe even getting lunch at this midday hour. They, of course, had no idea that anything was wrong. Joshua intended to keep it that way. None of them would know what had really happened on top of the building. That was good, it was the only thing keeping them alive.

'Your life or theirs. Take your pick.'

He had known that it was a trap from the second he read Minamimoto's text. Yet still, he'd come. What else could he do? The police would more likely arrest him then go after some 'nonexistant criminal'. His own friends doubted him. Neku was the only one who'd stayed by his side the entire time, and even his trust was beginning to waver. The younger teen hid it well, but Joshua could tell.

"Josh, listen to me. Back away from the edge. You don't have to do this."

Joshua's gaze, calm and sorrowful met Neku's. There was a hint of remorse in his voice when he finally spoke into the cell phone he had pressed to his ear.

"I'm a fake, Neku. Everyone we've defeated, Konoshi, Yashiro, Kariya, Minamimoto, they were all working for me. I'm the one behind everything."

In reality, it actually had been Minamimoto who was behind it all. The real criminal mastermind lay on the ground behind him, dead from a self inflited gunshot to the head. If Sho had still been alive, there was a possibility that everyone, himself and his friends, could have made it out of this alive. A slight possibility, but it had been there. He hadn't anticipated that Sho would actually kill himself rather than let Joshua win their little game.

"Y-you're lying!"

Joshua would hate himself for doing this, but it needed to be done. He could see the tears that were streaming freely down his best friend's cheeks. He needed to be believable, or even this wouldnt save his friends.

"I'm being completely truthful. They were all my pawns. Shiki, Beat, Rhyme, even you. You were the easiest to get, I think. You never once guessed the truth, that I was only using you."

"I don't believe you! You're not a fake! You knew everything about me from the minute we met; my favorite artist, my friends, my depression, my parents' divorce, everything! Nobody could've figured that out from one look!"

Even though his expression was stoic and cold, his heart and mind hurt. This conversation was tearing him down, and he could only imagine what it was doing to the one person he trusted. His thoughts screamed 'Dammit, Neku! I'm trying to save your life here! Just believe me and let me fall! You're going to get yourself killed!"

"I researched you. It's amazing what people put on social media these days. You're like an open book on your blog, very easy to read."

Time was running out, the snipers might get bored and begin to fire. Everything would have been for nothing. Joshua stepped closer to the edge, and Neku's gasp could be heard audibly over the phone. Then he was talking quickly.

"I never mentioned my parents on my blog. Don't do it Josh, please. Just come down and we'll ta-"

"Goodbye, dear Neku."

He snapped his phone shut and tossed it off the building. Below, the orange-haired boy still held his own phone to his ear, his gaze still locked with Joshua's. The silverett couldn't help but smile sadly, the boy had such a promising future. Someday, Neku would be great. Joshua just wished he'd have been able to see it.

His eyes moved to the clouds, the sun shining like nothing was wrong. A faint childhood wish came back to him, wishes of having wings and flying away to freedom. Those were the days when his imagination ran wild, when anything was possible. He'd long since given up on that dream, as no human could fly. But maybe he could fulfll one last wish.

His thoughts filled with memories of better times, a smiling boy with orange hair, and a plan or two, Yoshiya Kiryu spread his arms out, stepped off of the edge of the roof, and flew.

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What have I done... Anyway, part two, which should be less depressing, will be coming out at some point. Please review!


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